The Real Mr. Clean

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 

—1 John 1:7

Laundry is a task that I absolutely hate. For some reason, in my family we manage to soil enough laundry to clothe a small army. The worst part of doing laundry is when there are stains on the clothes. There have been several times when I have washed something and not known it was stained. It goes through the washer and comes out still stained, except now it’s permanently set in. Sin is like the stains on my family’s clothing. No matter how hard we try, we can’t get it out. The only true stain remover is the real Mr. Clean, Jesus Christ.

Sin stains the spiritual garments of everyone, and like red wine on a white carpet, it’s impossible to get it out. We don’t have the capacity to get it out, to get rid of our sin or hide its awful scar upon our souls. We can try and try, but a stain is and always will be a stain. We can try and scrub it away, apply all different types of concoctions, detergents, or bleaches, but nothing can get out the stain of sin. We can try and clean it, bleach it, and even hide it, but no matter what we do, it’s still there and will always be there.

What are we to do? How are we to get rid of the stain of sin? It is only through the application of God’s blood to the stains of our sin that God can make us clean. It is Christ’s death on the cross that made His soul-cleansing blood available to anyone who would receive it. And it is applied to our sinful hearts when we place our faith in Him. But it is lived out when we continually live in the light of His presence. The sin is cleansed at the moment we are justified, but when we live in the reality of its application, we display our sanctification in process.

Justification happens at the moment of our trust in Christ, when we are made clean in the sight of God. Justification is the starting line, while sanctification is the running of the race. It’s as Jesus said to Peter when He wanted to wash his feet, but Peter protested. Peter said, "You shall never wash my feet." But Jesus responded, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with Me." Jesus wanted Peter to understand that He wants all of our sin, all of our dirtiness, all of our nastiness, and if we don’t give it to Him, then we don’t understand what His life means to us. We don’t understand what type of cleansing He is really offering. He is offering to take away all of our sin and He wants it all; no sin is exempt. Peter then responds that he wants all of his body clean, not just his feet, to which Jesus responds, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean”—John 13:10. What Jesus meant was that when He cleanses us, He cleanses us completely in the sight of God. That does not mean that we will never sin, it means that positionally we are clean in the sight of God because of our trust in Christ (justification). However, we stay clean when we progressively do the things of God and live our lives in the presence of Christ, continually washing our souls by adhering to His Word, praying, fellowshipping with other believers who are in God’s laundry basket of sanctification, and other things like these. And while none of these things save us, they do reveal the continual state of our heart before the Lord. And by doing these things, we are demonstrating how we have been changed.

May we not let the stain of our sin keep us from living lives of continual sanctification. May we not let it corrupt our lives, chain our souls, and weigh down our walk with Christ. May we live free, soul-cleansed, grace-washed lives, washed by the water of His Word, our sins washed away by the blood of the Lamb in order that He may be praised and we might walk in newness of life. Amen.